How TO Avoid Writing Boring Riffs 

-Play chords -Add shit ROCK N ROLL! love the video btw

Is there anyway you could teach how to write blues rock riffs and chord progressions? I would appreciate it.

Don't say "sorry" to us about your mustard hands, say "sorry" to your guitar! o.O

You had me at "Reb Beach". Hardly anyone on YouTiube mentions that guy as an inspiration, or one of the premier guitarists of the eighties, and most just remember Winger as the butt of Mike Judge's humor...but they had some good tunes and Reb is a PHENOMINAL player. Kudos for name-droppin one of my guitar heros.

You know it's a good riff when you feel yourself wanting to solo over it.

What I love most about your work man, is your enthusiasm. Always wanna share all the stuff and just plain genuine. Love your work bro Keep on rocking!

I'd love to see more content like this! The open ended how to or a look into the process is extremely helpful!

Your chops are great and seemingly endless. You are entertaining and fun. You explain and demonstrate concepts with clarity but... But my favorite thing about you is your modesty. It's a rare and wonderful quality. Stay awesome Rob!

Loved this, a lot of "dad rock" sounds similar, probably because they riff around and borrow from the styles and techniques of their influences.

I think that Acacia maybe my favorite of your guitars. That and the crackle Charvel. Then again, that 335 smokes. Ah crap, nevermind, they all kick ass!

Great fun listening and watching to this organic process Robert. Thanks man!

Just found your channel a couple days ago, you have some great content and very useful tips transitioning to an intermediate guitarist. Thank you!

Great ideas! Thanks for posting. Very Van Halen-y, always a good thing.

Awesome. Great to see how a great player just let's it come out and goes with the bits they like. Great video :)

The chord at 5:03 is Dmaj7 sus2. (d,a,c#,e) Could also be thought of as A/D. (A major with D note in the bass) This progression occurs in the chorus of “Cult of Personality” D A/D C G “..leader speaks...” The open first string E technically is in the 9 position but without an F# present, it is generally referred to as sus2. If F# was in the chord; say, instead of the fifth(a), it would then be an add9. Love your work Robert!

Great video! Always an interesrinf topic when it comes to improv!

Diggin it. Love watching you progress.

Great video as always Rob, I will implement everything when I'm writing! \m/

I'm always happy when I see you getting back to this guitar. There is no Robert Baker without this guitar, crackle charvele and les paul km

This is how you make art, explained simply. You rock, brother!

Such a good rock player! The guitar is at one with you 🤘 I'll keep trying!

Just amazing, thanks so much for this.

Awesome! Super inspiring!

The riff starts like Bryan Adams - It's only love...

Great playing!

Awesome Stuff!!

I needed this video

I love it ! Put something out there, Robert ! Surfing with the Robert ! Maybe you need a walnut SG ?

I go to a lot of Open Mic Nights and sometimes it sucks when musicians play the same riff and the same key in all their songs.I feel as a musician myself,it's good to learn new riffs.

Super helpful stuff

Wonder if mustard would improve my skills ... *going to my fridge

Like the thought process

the chord is a major 9th chord minus the fifth. you can drop the fifth from every chord and it still has its quality unless its a power chord

Have you done a video about making your playing more rhythmic? Would love to see that.

the original chord change reminded me of stone in love by journey. nonetheless, it was cool to watch you develop a riff from a basic chord change.

I’ve been wondering if you still had that Acacia. Love that guitar, it’s on my bucket list.

Best advice ever! Be a rhythmic player! A lot of kids can't Groove. That's one thing dad rockers have. When you can groove you can make it last, all night long! Class of 84!

How TO Avoid Writing Boring Riffs? Write...Write...Write...Write... and Write some more lol I always look to use a different Key / Scale/ Tempo / Techniques / Effects / "Patterns|" etc...then anything i have written before..its fun!

That would be an awesome looking guitar if it had a small hockey stick headstock.

What guitar is that? Looks cool!

Nice tips

God there's really no way for me to watch one of your videos and NOT get my guitar :D Keep it up man :)

Wooo! Mustard Monday!

Those riifs have a little extra mustard- sounds good

Robert: "Fast Fret?? Who needs Fast Fret? I use mustard!"

Unskinny bop was the Poison song you were thinking of. 😅😅😅

pls tell me which of your amps you used in this video

Sounds like it was going into a Def Leppard direction.

Hi, Rob I was planning on getting another guitar under $500 and I was looking at the Squire Classic Vibe 50s Stratocaster 2-tone sunburst or the Squire tele custom 60s 3-tone sunburst and the new 2020 Epiphone Sg Special (the new inspired by Gibson one with p90s) and your opinion on it If you awnser please leave a suggestion if you have one 🤟great video as always

I ALWAYS tell anyone who asks me for guitar advice, which isn't that often lol, to learn how to play rhythm FIRST. Get your rhythm chops more perfected before you venture off into the high flying world of being a lead guitarist with blazing solo's. Name me a song that people immediately recognize by the solo, sure some guitarists might know the song like if you started jamming out the solo from Whole Lotta Love, but "most" people would only recognize it from the rhythm part. Plus, the rhythm portions are the song, they are the meat, they are what makes or breaks a song. You could have the coolest rhythm but if it's paired with the wrong temp or even the wrong lyrics, it most likely will sound like a bad song and people will skip to the next song. Let's say you took the rhythm of Zeppelin's "rock and roll" and used it for the lyrics of a song like 'Hey Lady", both are great songs, but if you switched the lyrics from one song to another, they would be terrible songs. I think the reason why you want to add that picking stuff between the chords Robert is because in your music mind you are combining 70's rock with 80's rock. The 80's is when they started to really do a lot of that style of playing and it became the norm, but in the 70's, just playing chords was the name of the game. I think there are two reasons why this began to happen in the 80's, 1) The Van Halen effect, Eddie's use of picking between the chords was so heavy at times and so cool sounding people wanted it all the time. 2) Better recording equipment. Some of that old recording equipment made it very difficult to get the sounds we love to hear on the guitar without it being too muddied together.

Ya know, there is that fine line, because "boring" riffs can actually sound catchy, but on the other hand too "exciting" & guitar enthusiast are the only ones listening... I write all the background music for my videos & like playing live, you learn quick, what works & what doesn't. The best song in the world is only great if people want to listen to it... Hope all is well, take it easy...

What's Dad rock? Classic rock mostly?

Nice axe. What is that?

Take a leaf out of old school rock n roll / blues. Write one riff, play it in a different order and slightly different keys 7 times and you got yaself a record

I hear music 24/7 its like a faucet, I can't turn it off!

No matter how careful I am, mustard for some reason ends up everywhere. 😆

Kinds sounds a little like Drop Dead Legs by VH at 6:35

I was told once before, less is sometimes more

For everyone wondering they are fishmen fluence pickups. Yes they are killer.👌

Isn’t an “A” the fifth of D not a third. So the notes of the chord are D a Maj 7 and a 9. I think correct me if i’m wrong lol

jeez man do you ever make a bad vid hahah content for years!!!!

The action on that guitar seems impossibly low! Wow!

But I thought that the only way to get radio exposure in this era was to rely on writing songs with boring riffs.

Why is it always when I watch a video on RU-vid there comes a video from you online?????🙃

Waaaaaaiiiitasec - you mean YOU'RE not Reb Beach?

I Call them Chords my Southern Rock Chords 🎻🎻👽

D Major? Wouldn’t it be G major? Kick ass video though!

I can hear some Drop dead legs in there a bit

Awesome - need tabs please

Where is the maj3 in that D chord??

I’m no rocket genius... but that looked a lot like D mixolydian.

Back in Black?

I dont think I remember that guitar having fishmans in it. Those are fishmans right?

So my G E A over and over and over and over and over then maybe a C isn’t cutting it anymore 😂

Wow, too much fun!

D2.

You look like a dad rock version of Lucas Mann

what do you mean when you say guitar players 'write riffs'?

Little bit Bryan Adams influenced

how in the f*ck did GNR write those riffs!!

So early! #mustardhands

Are you from the south?

Just don't write music